2026 Team Previews: New York Mets
A detailed fantasy baseball oriented team preview of the 2026 New York Mets
Full Series Links and Explanation Page Here
Podcast
I did the Mets & Astros together, just talking about the most interesting spots in both write-ups. So if you want the full details and every player covered, you’ll want to be reading the below instead of listening to the podcast.
Intro
I’m probably releasing this too early. The Mets have a real way about them to make huge splashes in free agency and come into each year with a different-looking roster. And they haven’t done a ton so far. So I’m guessing there will be another big piece or two added before we get to Spring Training.
But we’re trying to jam these team previews out before February so we can really lock into fantasy draft prep. The show must go on! And the Mets lost enough games last year to keep them in the middle of the pack standings-wise.
There are plenty of guys to know on this roster, most of them hitters. Let’s dive into it, and of course, we’ll be updating the ranks and projections with each future move they make.
Hitters
Juan Soto
Age: 27
Pos: OF
It’s pretty wild that the dude is still just 27. He’s coming off a career year where he blew up for 43 bombs and 37 steals. The OBP did come down under .400 for the first time, but I mean, it was a .396 OBP, so you’re not complaining even in points/OBP leagues.
Three straight years with 35+ bombs. The thing I’m not buying is the steals. I think he was just chasing the 40-40 milestone for most of the second half. My projection sends him back into the teens, and that is a significant ding on his fantasy value.
But the guy is so good and so consistent. If you’ve taken him in the first round every year of his career, you haven’t been too upset in any given year. Maybe that 2022 season with just the 27 bombs and the .242 batting average would have gotten you down. But the three years after that have been stellar.
It’s not a question of “is Juan Soto a good fantasy pick?”, it’s just about how high is too high. He’s been the #4 overall guy so far this year. I could make an argument that #4 is too high for him in standard roto. He’s not always a great batting average source, and I really don’t think you’re drafting as many steals as you might think you are if you’re doing that.
I’m going to have him behind more than just Ohtani, Judge, and Witt for non-OBP leagues. But in points leagues, Soto is easily #4, if not #3, ahead of Witt.
Projection
626 PA, 107 R, 39 HR, 94 RBI, 13 SB, .289/.413/.579
Ranking
I’ll put him behind Witt, but I wouldn’t take him ahead of Carroll/Acuna/Elly every single time, that’s for sure. Again, he’s an easy #3 or #4 overall pick when OBP is involved.
Francisco Lindor
Age: 32
Pos: SS
The Pete Alonso departure is bad news for guys like Soto and Lindor. I’m not saying it’s a massive difference maker, but whoever fills in for Alonso is unlikely to have the same run-producing impact that he had, and that creates fewer runs scored ahead of him in the lineup.
Lindor is 32 now, which still isn’t as old as it seems like he should be, but he’s probably slightly past his prime years. But it was another 30-30 season for the guy in 2025:
→ 732 PA, .264/.343/.463, 31 HR, 30 SB
Checking the five-year data:
This is a guy who took major advantage of the rule changes in 2023. He went from 16 steals to averaging 30 in these last three seasons. There’s some concern about that, as his sprint speed has never been great (he’s about league average), and it’s declining a bit as time goes on.
So maybe he drops to 20 steals pretty soon. His bat speed is also mediocre (30th percentile). But that’s not new, and he’s managed plenty of power in his career despite not having the most raw skills in speed and power.
Lindor is a bit like his old teammate, Jose Ramirez. They’re technical experts in the art of hitting and playing the game. They should both age very well.
The one thing about Lindor that keeps him out of first-round fantasy consideration is the lack of 40+ homer/steal upside along with a relatively weak batting average. You should expect about a .260 batting average from him next year (my model is at .267, Steamer at .259).
He’ll snooze to a 20-20 season, but if he ends up on the lower end of that, you could be looking at something like 25-20-.255. Lindor is a guy you draft for the floor rather than the ceiling at this point in his career, and if the Mets offense does prove to really miss Alonso, you could come up short on elite counting stat production as well.
That’s a lot of negative stuff to say about a guy projecting as a top 15 fantasy hitter:
Projection
684 PA, 100 R, 28 HR, 76 RBI, 21 SB, .268/.342/.466
Ranking
The question is, where do you rank him relative to Junior Caminero and Nick Kurtz? They all go really close together in drafts, but they’re wildly different player types. League settings matter quite a bit. How valuable are the twenty extra steals Lindor will get you? How much do you value safety and upside? I’m slotting him in behind those two for now, just because of the lack of fantasy ceiling he offers.
Francisco Alvarez
Age: 24
Pos: C
Alvarez was the top prospect in all of baseball in a few spots a couple of years back. Injuries and strikeouts have kept him from having a big impact overall, but we’ve seen flashes of the upside he offers at the catcher position.
The career K% isn’t all that bad considering the pop he has. You’ll take a 26% K% with a 9% BB% if you’re hitting a bomb every 22 PAs like he has.
The bigger issue is the injury history. Last year:
Left hamate bone fracture (spring training)
Right thumb UCL sprain (August)
Left pinky fracture
Putting your body near hard projectiles traveling above 95mph turns out to be risky business, but man, that’s some tough luck for Alvarez with three different, unrelated injuries.
The good news is that all of that stuff should be behind in ahead of 2026. He has the chance to be a 30+ homer guy at the catcher position again, and that gets him on the map for fantasy leagues.
The guy hits the ball extremely hard:
→ 108.4 EV90
→ 115 Max EV
He had a lot of trouble lifting the ball, especially on the pull side last year:
→ 50% GB%
→ 7.5% Air Pull%
→ 34% Sweet Spot%
So that needs some work. The good news on that front is that he was much higher in Air Pull from 2022-2024, so we could expect that 7.5% mark to bounce up to at least 12% next year.
My projection is for 18 bombs in 413 PAs, which turns into 26 bombs in a 600 PA projection. He’s not going to get 600 PAs unless they make him their primary DH. From what I can tell, he’s good enough defensively for that not to be in the cards for 2026. Their backup catcher is Luis Torrens, and it doesn’t look like anybody else is coming through the minors to take the job. With Alonso and Nimmo out of town, I do think Alvarez will see more DH reps, but we’re looking at 120-130 games for the guy.
How many catchers have the same per-game power upside? GOOD QUESTION, JON. Raleigh, Langeliers, Rice, Goodman, Basallo are there. But I think Alvarez hangs around the top five if that’s the question you’re asking.
He’s being drafted as the #16 catcher. And the lack of 140+ games played upside keeps him out of the top ten, but I don’t know, I think he’s pretty darn cheap. You could be looking at a 25+ homer guy with a non-awful batting average. I’m in on Alvarez in leagues where 15+ catchers are being drafted.
Projection
413 PA, 53 R, 18 HR, 55 RBI, 2 SB, .246/.321/.450
Ranking
I’m sliding him above the Orioles duo in my catcher rankings.
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